MOBILE SPORTS BETTING FEATURE
roadmaps which say we can have something in six months time. Now we can just do it ourselves.” The initial mobile sportsbook launch in April focused on replacing the basic functionality previously provided by Mfuse. However, the team was able to add several features to improve the customer experience, including an enhanced inplay product, improved navigation, live events and betting highlights. With the core platform in place, what Daniels refers to as the “building block”, the operator can now begin planning for the future. “It has already made us a lot more agile and improves the speed to market with new products moving forward. Initially we just changed some basic stuff. For example, we have spent a lot of time on making sure it can be used on BlackBerry and Windows operating systems, which no one seems to bother with at the moment,” he says. “Obviously there is not a big market [with those operating systems] but we want to make sure it works on everything. Fortunately we have a lot of developers who like Android so they put a lot of work into that and getting it working across everything. We have done a lot of tests on our competitors’ sites and there’s only one that was quicker.”
MOBILE PEOPLE
CHRIS SHEFFIELD
2000-2002: 2003-2008: 2008-2010: 2011-present: Managing director, Eunite CEO and founder, Million-2-1 General manager remote gaming, IGT Managing director, Betfred
ANDY DANIELS
2000-2003: 2003-2008: 2008-2011: 2011-present: Junior developer, Eunite Developer, Million-2-1 Senior developer, IGT Head of mobile development, Betfred
INNOVATIONS
But in order to compete with other leading mobile sportsbooks including William Hill and Paddy Power and “punch above its weight”, Betfred has to offer something different or at the very least the best in breed. Daniels highlights mobile users’ desire to be able to “get in and out” of a betting site quickly, and intends to focus on this aspect in coming months. One barrier often facing mobile customers –
"THE FIRST THING THEY SEE WHEN THEY LOG IN NEEDS TO BE AN ATTRACTIVE, RELEVANT BET, AND THEN THEY NEED TO BE ABLE TO PLACE THAT BET WITHIN A COUPLE OF CLICKS"
ANDY DANIELS BETFRED HEAD OF MOBILE
THE SHARP PROJECT
Betfred’s mobile development team moved to the Sharp Project in Manchester in 2011. The former electronics warehouse was purchased by Manchester City Council for £6.1m in 2006 and was converted into a hub for digital startup companies as part of a broader project by the city to provide creative and internetbased businesses, affordable office space and create jobs in the process. The 250,000 square foot building is made up of shipping containers converted into small offices, ?lm and TV st